Scan barcode
raemelle's review against another edition
3.0
Well, the hardback edition of this book that I read had a slew of typos/grammatical errors. These made some of the rambling and unclear sentences even harder to understand. My biggest problem was when a pronoun wouldn't be defined, and one paragraph would refer to two or three people of the same gender. I had to read those parts several times, and sometimes still move on while unclear who was talking about who.
And though it was a touch less prominent in this book, the back door bragging and "I don't care about rich things" bull was still present and annoying. The overly goody-two-shoes good guys versus the blatantly all-evil bad guys. Black and white. No shades of grey in these stories.
I did appreciate the twist on the original slipper story, and its bloody involvement with the stepsisters.
This story didn't keep me very attached. It was an okay read, and I'll read the next book in the Elemental series, but it was easy to find more entertaining things to do than read this book. For that reason, it took me longer than usual to finish.
And though it was a touch less prominent in this book, the back door bragging and "I don't care about rich things" bull was still present and annoying. The overly goody-two-shoes good guys versus the blatantly all-evil bad guys. Black and white. No shades of grey in these stories.
I did appreciate the twist on the original slipper story, and its bloody involvement with the stepsisters.
This story didn't keep me very attached. It was an okay read, and I'll read the next book in the Elemental series, but it was easy to find more entertaining things to do than read this book. For that reason, it took me longer than usual to finish.
rachel_abby_reads's review against another edition
3.0
A retelling of Cinderella set in England during WWI. Pretty good.
12/21/12: I just reread this book. Way too much Tarot stuff, but it was fun to combine my affection for fairy tales, fantasy, and Downton Abbey stuff into one book.
12/21/12: I just reread this book. Way too much Tarot stuff, but it was fun to combine my affection for fairy tales, fantasy, and Downton Abbey stuff into one book.
jennderqueer's review against another edition
4.0
Cinderella retelling, set during WW1. Entertaining.
eak1013's review against another edition
3.0
Lackey does much better with the World War One stuff than she does with the "ooooh mixing of cultures" stuff she maunders through in some of the other books. Some of it is quite touching, and I'm such a sucker for the fairy tale hurt/comfort of deprivation/luxury (or even basic creature comforts) that are especially well played in a Cinderella retelling.
bookwyrm_lark's review against another edition
4.0
Review originally published at The Bookwyrm's Hoard.
The traditional tale of Cinderella takes on several new twists in Phoenix and Ashes, the fourth in Mercedes Lackey's "Elemental Masters" fantasy series. After Eleanor Robinson's tradesman father dies in the trenches of World War I, her social-climbing stepmother Allison, an Earth Master on the Dark Path, literally binds Eleanor to a life of servitude within her own home by burying Eleanor's severed finger beneath the kitchen hearthstone. Meanwhile, handsome young Reginald Fenyx, Lord Devlin, Air Master and heir to Longacre, the local estate, has returned from war badly injured after crashing his plane. His nerves shattered after two days spent buried alive at the mercy of the nastiest elementals of Earth (the "antagonist" element to Air), Reggie is severely shell-shocked -- and has lost his magical powers.
Lackey pulls no punches in this one, painting a vivid and believable portrait of life in war-weary Britain, of soldiers mangled in body and mind, of a social order quickly passing away. Allison Robinson makes a peculiarly chilling villain as she schemes to marry one of her daughters to Reggie while acting to prolong the war purely for the sake of the power she draws from death and despair.
Several characters from The Serpent's Shadow make brief appearances, including Dr. Maya and Lord Alderstone. But the focus is on Eleanor and Reggie, as they struggle individually and eventually together to cope with and overcome the terrible things each has experienced.
FCC disclosure: I bought this book.
You can read more of my reviews at The Bookwyrm’s Hoard.
The traditional tale of Cinderella takes on several new twists in Phoenix and Ashes, the fourth in Mercedes Lackey's "Elemental Masters" fantasy series. After Eleanor Robinson's tradesman father dies in the trenches of World War I, her social-climbing stepmother Allison, an Earth Master on the Dark Path, literally binds Eleanor to a life of servitude within her own home by burying Eleanor's severed finger beneath the kitchen hearthstone. Meanwhile, handsome young Reginald Fenyx, Lord Devlin, Air Master and heir to Longacre, the local estate, has returned from war badly injured after crashing his plane. His nerves shattered after two days spent buried alive at the mercy of the nastiest elementals of Earth (the "antagonist" element to Air), Reggie is severely shell-shocked -- and has lost his magical powers.
Lackey pulls no punches in this one, painting a vivid and believable portrait of life in war-weary Britain, of soldiers mangled in body and mind, of a social order quickly passing away. Allison Robinson makes a peculiarly chilling villain as she schemes to marry one of her daughters to Reggie while acting to prolong the war purely for the sake of the power she draws from death and despair.
Several characters from The Serpent's Shadow make brief appearances, including Dr. Maya and Lord Alderstone. But the focus is on Eleanor and Reggie, as they struggle individually and eventually together to cope with and overcome the terrible things each has experienced.
FCC disclosure: I bought this book.
You can read more of my reviews at The Bookwyrm’s Hoard.
skundrik87's review against another edition
4.0
i think this one might be my favorite in the series.
inkspillr's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bradleygiselle's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars. Okay, so I've figured out something about Lackey with this book. Her stories and how she weaves the fairytale elements into them are really good and make the experience great. But in the 3 books I've read in this series so far there has yet to be a flushed out romance. And these were all books with strong romance plots. I never believe the romance. Ever. It may be cute and I may believe that eventually these characters would fall in love but I have yet to believe that they are in love from what I've been given in the story. There's never enough development put into the relationship. So even though the characters and the story may be excellent, the romance always brings down my overall enjoyment of it. Since such a huge part of the story feels completely unbelievable it's something that could never really win my love. But they're still really fun and good!